The blind 8-year old opera star, Rochelle Veenemans, will open the Diamond Jubilee Gala Concert in aid of SA Guide Dogs for the Blind next Wednesday night with the aria O mio babbino caro, one of Puccini’s best known compositions from the opera Gianni Schicchi.
Rochelle is the granddaughter of South African opera diva Barbara Veenemans. She is currently a Grade 2 learner at the Prinshof School for the Visually Impaired. Rochelle was a premature baby and weighed only 970 grams at her birth. It was later determined that she became blind whilst she was placed in ICU for the duration of three months. Rochelle was exposed at an early age to music and soon it was discovered that she has a special music talent. She made her solo debut at the age of four with the famous tenor Manual Escorcio, singing songs such as You raise me up and Tomorrow from the musical Annie. She is a regular performer at charity events, children’s music theatre productions and she also performs regularly with her aunt, opera singer Michelle Veenemans. She frequently competes at various Eisteddfods to great acclaim and in 2012 received an additional special award from the National Eisteddfod Academy for her brilliant rendition of Bach’s aria, Bist du bei mir for Grade 1 learners. As a result, she was invited to perform at the Young Performers Showcase at the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria. In 2013, she gave her first radio interview for RSG Kuns and they also aired one of the recordings.
The concert is being given at the Joburg Theatre and ticket prices range from R150, R250, R350, R450 and R550 – with 20 seats at a R1000 each in the Mayoral Box. Bookings can be made through www.joburgtheatre.com or by phoning the Call Centre on 0861 670 670.
